Pour spouts are employed on containers to dispense various types of products, including, but not limited to, granular products (e.g., pet litter, laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, etc.), rice, cereal, dry pet food, and gun pellets. Although metal and plastic pour spouts have been applied to containers for many years, the application of such metal and plastic spouts is costly because the spouts require special and expensive application equipment and cause decreased assembly line efficiencies.
In an effort to reduce the costs associated with the application of pour spouts to containers, pour spouts composed of paperboard have been introduced to the marketplace in recent years. Heretofore, the, effectiveness of such paperboard pour spouts has been limited by such problems as lack of durability, the absence of tactile or audible feedback indicative of positive reclosure,, and the inability to prevent spillage or sifting of the contents of the container in the area of the pour spout. Despite attempts to reduce the cost of paperboard pour spouts relative to the costs of metal and plastic pour spouts, such paperboard pour spouts have nonetheless been fairly costly due to their use of excessive amounts of paperboard.
Accordingly, a need exists for a paperboard pour spout which overcomes the above-noted shortcomings associated with existing pour spouts.